Page 25 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
They covered every inch of my bare skin.
There was salt at the corners of my mouth, and my hair swirled under the violent waves.
The storm intensified, and dark clouds hung ominously, flickering with deep lightning.
I was taken. The sea had her tight grip on me and wouldn’t let go. But my eyes were wide, and there was no tension in my body. In the storm, I felt like I was as free as I was upon the dragon. Nothing could touch me. Nothing could hurt me. I was free.
The world shuddered in golden light like I was buried deep in the sun.
My hands erupted with golden magic, swirling around my forearms like divine bracelets. The magic radiated through me as the waves lapped at my skin. I felt powerful. Powerful enough to explode in radiating light. I was more than a slave. I was a force of nature. I was a weapon. I was a sword wielded by the world itself, ready to strike against those that would harm everything I cared about.
But my dreams were often like that. False. Fleeting. And I always woke up at the end to my miserable life.
That night, however, there was something entirely different about waking.
I shot up in bed, feeling something rustling around my legs. There was someone in the room with me. Someone in the dark. Someone in bed with me, weighing down the soft mattress. My hands clenched to fists, ready to punch, scratch, and claw.
In the dim light, however, as I adjusted in the gloom, a pair of huge yellow eyes were staring straight into mine. They sparkled with the dazzling streaks of oranges and reds, and their age calmed me quickly.
“Cornelius? How… how did you get up here?” My breaths were quick, calming slowly from the panic of being awoken by something in my bed.
The tortoise had his tree trunk legs straddling my thin waist and hips. He was looking down at me with a certain… curiosity… as if thinking of his words carefully.
It did not completely escape me that I might actually be going insane.
Animals don’t talk, let alone huge tortoises that can somehow get up onto my bed without me noticing.
“You have much to learn, young one.” Cornelius’ beak barely moved as he spoke, angling his head down toward me, still flat on my back.
“I think you’re right about that. Everything has changed since I did whatever I did on that beach. Do you know anything about Prince Cade? Do you know what he’s planning to do with me? I’m worried he’s going to take me to his mother, the queen. But he won’t tell me anything.”
The tortoise’s eyes narrowed, and he groaned from deep within. His breath smelled strongly of barnacles and seaweed. It smelled like home to me.
“We don’t have much time…” He stepped to the side, turning his long neck, but his foot missed the edge of the bed, and as his huge body tumbled off the side of the bed, I jolted, throwing my arms out to grab his legs and keep him from falling onto the floorboards. My fingers rushed through the air, desperate to help, but they found only air as his body vanished before my eyes, leaving behind only thin wisps of a translucent, rainbow-colored glow. “There’s much that I must teach you.” His voice was beside me, and I threw my legs under me, sitting on my knees, glaring at him as he stood on the floor beside me.
“You—you disappeared earlier, didn’t you? When I tried to show Bella where you were, you were gone, and you made me look like a mad woman.”
“I can do many things.” He slowly turned and made slow strides toward the side wall. “But I’m not here about me. I am here because of you, Gold-Marked.”
“You know about the magic that I used? And the rune that glowed on my neck?”
“Yes, young one. And I hope to teach you to control that magic, for when the time comes, you’re going to need to be able to wield it. There are things that will come for you—things far worse than the Blaze Prince.”
“Things? What things? And how do you know about this magic? And how did you get off the fucking bed like that?” I stood from the bed; hair strewn all over, barefoot and aching from the long dragon rides.
“The Gold-Marked are rare, and once they are born and revealed to the world, many will seek to control that power you have within you. It seems the prince is taking you to the queen. We cannot let that happen. She is the one who wishes most to use what’s in you for her own devices. You cannot go to Emberveil.”
“What choice do I have? He bought me. He has dragons. He could do whatever he wants with me. I can’t match his strength or speed.”
“You have the Spirit in you. The Rune Spirit. When you learnhow to control that which stirs deep inside you, you’ll be able to defeat ten Blaze Princes. But until then, yes—we are somewhat trapped in our current predicament.” Cornelius’ beak was nearly flush against the wall. “But we cannot speak here. We need to get out into the forest. Only there can I begin to train you.”
“Train me?” I scratched my cheek. “Who… what are you?”
“I’m your guide,” Cornelius said with a raised chin and a gleam in his eye.
I thought for a long moment.
So many questions sparked inside me, and my mouth didn’t hold back. “What is the Gold-Marked? What am I? What does that mean? And a Rune Spirit? How did I get it? From birth? Or did the dragons do it to me?”
